


Till The Night

by Angel_of_Gryffindor



Category: South Park
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-29 03:39:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12622360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_of_Gryffindor/pseuds/Angel_of_Gryffindor
Summary: Tweak takes himself to rehab to rid himself of his coffee addiction, knowing it'll be the best thing for himself and his relationship. Craig is sad to be left behind & get's dragged to a party. In a drunken state he is taken advantage of. Nine months later there is a surprise waiting for Craig. Time skip five years and Tweak is finally home, totally sober & ready for his relationship. Mostly ups and a little guilt.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've tagged rape cos that's pretty much what happens, it's non explicit but still there and mentioned. Inspired by a piece of artwork i saw on Tumblr https://tuckerenthusiast.tumblr.com/post/166834279028/commission-for-kanoii-chi

"don't go" Craig pleaded, clutching the smaller, cold hands tightly in his own.  
"I have to." Tweak whispered back, "for the both of us."  
Since the age of six months blond haired Tweak Tweek had been given coffee by his parents, as he grew up they began to use him as a guinia pig for their new blends but that amount of coffee has lasting effects.  
Tweak twitched, couldn't sleep for longer than two hours and his mind would play tricks on him constantly; the blond had tried all the tricks from distractions to going cold turkey.  
Even with the love of his blunt boyfriend Tweak felt like his very being was washing away down a hot river of coffee addiction.  
So Tweak booked himself into rehab several states away to get the help he desprately needed.  
Black haired Craig had been far from happy; granted he too hadn't had a good night sleep since he was ten, when he first got together with the blond, but he always thought there was a charm to Tweak's ticks.  
"you'll be so far away and you're not even taking your cell." Craig was trying not to get too riled up since he knew Tweak had already made up his mind but it still hurt that his beloved was going away for an unknown amount of time.  
Tweak smiled softly at his distraught boyfriend, "I'll be back before you know it. Till the night." the blond whispered and kissed Craig lovingly before climbing onto the waiting bus out of town; a ten hour ride.  
Craig stood perfectly still as the bus pulled away, hands clenched painfully, telling himself over and over that the blond would be back soon and forced back tears.  
The days passed in the blur; Craig ambled through school in a worse mood than usual and holed himself up in his room the rest of the time.  
Normally the black haired teen would spend a lot of time at Tweek Bro's coffee shop but he couldn't bare to be around Tweak's parents; the people who had made their son an addict.  
After nearly two months of moping and staring longing at a phone that would never ring Craig was forced out of the house by his friends.  
A friday afternoon found dark skinned Token booting down Craig's door and throwing clean clothes at his misriable friend.  
"I'm sick of looking at your dumb face." Token said as he tugged off the covers, "we all miss Tweak."  
"not like I do." Craig hissed not looking up from his dark phone.  
Token glared down at his pale friend; at first he'd been understanding to Craig's sadness but he knew for a fact Tweak would be away years to get better and there was not a chance he would let Craig brood for that long.  
"look dude, if Tweak knew you were sulking like this he'd feel guilty and force himself to come back." Token sighed and quickly continued as he saw a glint of something in Craig's eye, "before he would be well enough and this is something he needs to do." he stated firmly.  
Craig and Tweak hadn't really spoken about the rehab, it had all been rushed, the black haired teen had punched his wardrobe doors a few times to calm down before telling the blond he'd be by his side always.  
There was no set time frame for Tweak being away and that hurt Craig more than his boyfriend being away; not knowing when he'd be back.  
Sitting up Craig rubbed his aching face, he heaved a huge sigh, "so what's the plan?"  
Suddenly Clyde, who had been loitering at the door, bounced into the room and threw himself playfully onto the bed, "there's a party at the U-Store It units."  
"classy." Craig quipped and grabbed the clothes Token had thrown his way.  
"no, I don't think Classi will be there." Clyde said and soon found himself landing painfully on the floor thanks to a swift kick from Token.  
At dusk the three of them walked to the U-Store It lot; there was loud, thumping music echoing in the air and Craig could see a few flashing lights, there was also young Ike trying to chat up Karen McCormick who seemed very unimpressed with his waggly eyebrowed efforts.  
Inside unit 29 was made out to look like a dance floor with little sections for sucking face and unit 31 was filled with alchole of every and any kind.  
Token and Clyde grabbed a cup of the glowing cocktail that was being mixed by a glitter covered Kenny, he already looked drunk, "I've been sampling it." he slurred.  
Peeking into the bowl Craig could see glitter & pieces of fruit floating inside a conction of various liquors, plus some glowsticks at the bottom.  
"I can tell." Craig said and grabbed a bottle of bourbon with its lable torn off.  
Squeezing through the mass of bodies on the dance floor Craig sat himself heavily onto a box in the corner, hoping no-one would see him.  
"Oh, hi Craig." came a voice from the dark corner behind Craig's spot.  
Squinting, and using a disguarded glowstick for light, Craig saw Butters hiding in the corner, also covered in glitter.  
"whatcha doing?" Craig asked, swigging his liquour, enjoying the burn.  
Butters moved a little forward so Craig could hear him, his light blond hair and rosy face twinkling under all the lights, "I'm hiding from Kenny, he sure gets awful touchy-feely when he's drunk."  
The black haired teen snorted before a painful knot clenched his throat; Tweak would get all clingy whenever he had too many festive lattes.  
To clear his mind Craig swigged back a large amount of his drink.  
"Tweak will be back before you know it." Butters finally said.  
Another painful lump in his throat, "yeah. " Craig wheezed, "he said."  
For a few seconds Butters stared Craig with a strange look on his face; the blond was a master of reading people since he went unnoticed a lot he got lots of chances just to observe others.  
"I'm gunna go see Kenny." Butters said as he squeezed out from the corner, "I won't tell no-one you're here."  
Craig raised his bottle in thanks before going back to drowning his sorrows; Token and Clyde may have dragged him out of the house but he would rather stab out his own eyes than talk to any of his drunken classmates.  
So the night wore on, more people began to find corners to makeout, while others found places to vomit onto; Craig drunk the full bottle of bourbon before swiping an abandoned bottle of vodka someone had left.  
Craig's vision was blurred, so were his thoughts, his legs were shaking and stomach was warm; everytime his fuzzy brain thought of Tweak he downed another mouthful but his brian wouldn't stop showing him images of the blond.  
Finally the vodka was empty but Craig couldn't stand to get other bottle so he sat there and waited for Token or Clyde to find him or to fall asleep.  
"lonely?" Someone with blond hair sat next to Craig and placed a cup of the mystery cocktail into his hands.  
Swigging down the colourful drink Craig felt the warmth of the other person, "I'll take care of you sweetie." they whispered and then his world faded away.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was too bright and someone was breathing too loud; squinting through hazy vision Craig saw he was lying on the floor of unit 29, surrounded by empty bottles and passed out classmates, he was also feeling a breeze around his bottom half.  
Looking down he saw both his pants and star covered boxers had been pushed down to his ankles, exposing himself to the world; figuring he's needed to pee in his drunken state and just not covered himself back up.  
Craig slowly sat up even thought everything felt heavy and his ears ringing and he saw something out of the corner of his eye; a mass of blond hair and a girl's body with even less covered than him.  
Even a hungover brain clicked very quickly what had happened and a stinging shot of guilt slammed into Craig's stomach and he violently shook the girl.  
Groaning the blond girl sat up, covering her exposed breasts as she did, she looked neither hungover or guilty; she was a waitress at Raisins, Mercedes, one of Clyde's faviourates.  
"what the hell happened?" Craig hissed.  
"I'm surprised you don't remember sweetie." Mercedes giggled, "and i thought you were gay."  
Craig shoved her into the boxes behind her, "slut." he snapped, finally standing on shaking legs, "you took advantage of me."  
Mercedes stood too, rearranging her skirt as she did, "oh please sweetie, you say that like i raped you."  
Not holding back his anger Craig punched her square in the chest, "you did!" the black haired teen pulled up his pants, "come near me again and I'll report you."  
Picking his way over all the passed out bodies and doing a version of the walk of shame home Craig couldn't shake the guilty feeling pushing down on him.  
"I thought you'd stopped moping." Ruby mentioned casually as Craig climbed back under his covers.  
"that was before someone took advantage of me." Craig muttered but his sister heard him.  
"who was it?" Ruby asked, her voice suddenly very serious.  
Craig peeked out at his little sister, "it was Mercedes from Raisins."  
"you didn't do anything wrong. Tweak would understand and forgive." Ruby told him, "I'm going out, sleep off your hangover before dad sees you."  
Slowly Craig slid back under his covers, thinking about what Ruby had said about Tweak and it was true; even at his most parinoid Tweak would rather attack the person trying it on with his boyfriend than Craig himself.  
It wasn't even like Craig could confess to Tweak since there was no way of contacting.  
On monday morning, after all the hangovers had been cured, the whole of South Park High school trudged through the doors, Craig didn't tell anyone what had happened that night but he did noticd that Mercedes had a black eye and a broken wrist; she also didn't come within ten feet of him before disappring completely.  
The months melted into each other, school was a boring blur of mindless work and the weekends hazed with drink; this time in the privercy of Token's basement.  
Summer holidays were even worse, too hot to do anything and too bored to try the six weeks dragged worse than any of the previous ones.  
As the new semester started Craig dreaded it; he'd still not heard anything from Tweak but still held out hope that every time a bus pulled into town the blond would be on it.  
The first day back was mundane, mostly letures for what to expect from their last year of high school and teacher chatting on about how important their exams were going to be and they had to decide on their future now.  
Craig ignored it all; he planned on getting a job anywhere that would take him and live together with Tweak.  
However upon returning home Craig's life was turned upside down; there in his driveway was Mercedes with her hand on a pram.  
"what the fuck are you doing here? I thought me and my sister made ourselves very clear." Craig deadpanned as he walked passed her to his door.  
Mercedes rolled her eyes at him, "please like i wanna be anywhere near you or your crazy sister." she shoved the pram towards him, "here, this is yours. I already got a job in another town so I'm leaving." she called over her shoulder as she walked away, "all his stuff is in the bag!"  
And just like that Mercedes disappeared again.  
Craig snapped out of his daze when the baby in the pram began to cry; he was dressed in a little green onesie, he had inky black hair and a pink round face.  
Craig was usually level-headed and since his brian had been resting for most of the day at school it quickly processed what had happened; obviously no condom had been invovled that night, accidents happen, and now he was fully responsable for his son.   
Scooping out the baby Craig held him awkwardly, still trying to figure out how to explain the situation to his parents, and fumbled with the diaper bag to find a bottle.  
"what's happening?" Ruby asked, looking in bewilderment at both Craig and the baby.  
"that bitch Mercedes got pregnant after that night and now she's abandoned him to me!" Craig explained still trying to find a bottle for the crying baby.  
Ruby rushed forward, taking over the search for a bottle, "how dare she abandon him." she hissed, "what you gunna do?" Ruby asked handing over the warm bottle.  
Bundling the tiny baby into his coat and carefully slipped the teat into his crying mouth; he vaugely remembered helping when Ruby had been born.  
"I'm going to keep him of course. Bad circumstances or not, he's mine." Craig stated firmly; surprising and unknown as the baby boy had been, he was Craig's and he would look after his son with all of his might.  
Explaining everything to his parents wasn't as difficult as it could have been, Ruby encouraged her brother to be totally honest about the dreaded night in question; suprisingly both Tucker parents listened paitently for Craig to finish.  
"so, now she's gone I guess forever?" Craig's mom asked, her eyes never have left the sleeping baby.  
Craig shrugged, "she said she had a job. I guess she didn't want him."  
"and do you son? Do you want him?" His dad asked carefully.  
The black haired teen looked down at his chubby little son, barely a few days old, and he felt a bubble of love in his heart; just like the ones he gets everytime he sees Tweak's smile.  
"I want him. I'm ready for this." Craig told his parents, flashing a rare smile.  
Mr Tucker stood proudly and patted Craig on the shoulder, "good man, stepping up, you'll be a good father."  
Craig's parents rarely said they were proud of him, espcially since his school work was so poor, the only thing they seemed to really apporve of was his relationship with Tweak.  
"and when Tweak comes back you'll make a lovely family." Mrs Tucker gushed, taking the baby for a cuddle, "what's his name?"  
"maybe Solar?" Craig said.  
Ruby rolled her eyes but didn't object and neither did his parents; so after a trip to the registry office to formally name him Solar Tucker became a welcome fixture to Craig's life.


	3. Chapter 3

Raising Solar was a little like living with Tweak; he woke every two hours, only calmed down when he'd had a soothing drink and loved having cuddles with Craig.  
Craig was happy to have a good routine, he still had to attend school, his mom looked after the baby during the weekdays but the weekends were all their own.  
Explaining where Solar came from was a different situation; his friends were very understanding and apologetic that they'd lost him at that party, unfortunately Cartman had overheard some of the convcation and within an hour it was all round school.  
The incident was thankfully covered up by a perfectly timed Kyle who brought a full bag of revision books down on the fatass's head; he even dropped it again while Cartman laid splade on the floor for safe measure.  
"you ever want to press charges, I can help." Kyle whispered on his way to detention.  
Craig thought about it for a moment, it was the right thing to do, but as he looked at the presious photo of Solar his mom had just sent he shook his head, "she's out of our lives. Let's keep it that way."  
"he really looks like you." Wendy gushed, "execpt his eyes."  
When Solar finally opened his eyes enough for Craig to see them, they were bright blue and the black haired teen felt a bit smug; his baby boy with black hair like himself and blue eyes like Tweak.  
"I can't wait to see what our kids look like." Wendy simpered to Stan, who suddenly looked very shocked.  
Out of the corner of his eye Craig saw the red headed Kyle stick his tongue out in disgust but not look up from him book.  
Juggling school and parenthood was difficult at times; sometimes he couldn't figure out why Solar was crying or needing the one thing he forgot to pack when he went out and most of the time Ruby being pissed at him for disturbing her sleep.  
But as Solar grew, showing his happy, clingy personality Craig knew he had been doing the right thing.  
Craig certainly didn't miss being dragged out to socialise, even if his mom offered to babysit Solar, he would rather wrap up in a blanket with his son and watch some terrible movie that reminded him of Tweak.  
"That's your daddy." Craig would say to Solar everyday, showing him the album of photos on his phone of both himself and Tweak.  
At gradutation Craig smuggled his son onto the stage to collect his diploma, the one year old squealing and grabbing the document.  
"you sure you made up your mind?" Token asked for the hundrenth time as he loaded his car for college.  
The black haired teen knew that even if he wanted to go to college, he had no idea what he would want to study, plus all the savings his parents had put away for college were being used, very gratefully, for Solar.  
Plus he felt happy and comfortable being a dad.  
One by one Craig waved each of his classmates away to college, except Cartman who became a bouncer at the Peppermint Hippo, and even though he didn't like hanging out a lot he felt sad that nobody was around.  
Craig taught Solar about space, superheros and mythical beings, he showed him the finer things in gaming and how to secretly flip people off; explaining that situation to kindergarden was a little difficult.  
Suddenly when Solar turned three Stan appeared back in South Park, his leg in full plaster, and since they were the only two around who knew each other well, and couldn't go out for long periods of time, they hung out.  
"doesn't look like your usual football injury." Craig mentioned the first time they hung out.  
People were avoiding mentioing Stan's injury but Craig wasn't like most people.  
At first the football player shifted awkwardly and just watched the little boy play with his red cars but he slowly answered, "there was this Frat that I was part of, it was fun, they were cool but they didn't like that I still talked to Kyle." he heaved a sigh, "they said we were unnaturally close."  
Craig nodded, he and Tweak were close because they were in love, destained to be together; maybe that's what Stan and Kyle had but refused to admit it.  
"there was a huge argument, everyone was drunk, the next thing I knew I was going down a full flight of stairs. My leg broken and so is my future." Stan took a huge gulp of his engery drink.  
"you so sure football is your future?" Craig asked.  
"what else can I do?" Stan snapped, knocking over one of Solar's toys with his cast.  
Craig shrugged, "whatever you want. We may not have always got on Marsh but you are skilled at more than one thing."  
"what would be worth it?" the ex-football player.  
Solar had stopped to listen, his curious little toddler brain soaking in the convocation, he held out one of his cars with the broken wheel, "fix it." he demanded sweetly, "you fix it."  
"go on Toolshed." Craig snorted, knocking the other teen with his shoulder, "you heard the kid, fix it."  
In the end Stan bacame the towns main fix it man; orginally people brought broken stuff to Stan's garage but once his leg had healed he travelled all over town to do jobs.  
Craig took a part-time job at the pet store, only in the hours Solar was at school, he enjoyed it but wished he could spend all his time with his son.  
When Solar turned five Craig began to catch him staring longingly at the photos of Tweak, a curious look on his face, "when's daddy coming home?" he asked.  
Feeling a stab of sadness Craig looked kindly at his son, "soon." he answered.  
"you always say that. When?" Solar asked more firmly.  
Craig had to take a deep breath, "I won't lie to you, I don't know when but it will be soon. I promise."  
For a moment Craig panicked that Solar would argue some more, his stubboness had very much been passed on, but he simply clenched a small toy coffee cup he stolen from a girl from school and carried on with what he had been doing.  
All the night Craig couldn't stop thinking about Tweak, he thought about him most nights but that night he was beginning to worry that Tweak may never come back; over five years in rehab seemed a long time and surely the blond would have tried to contact him in some way.  
Suddenly the whole room was illuminated by Craig's phone, squinting at the invading light he saw a new text message and all it said was "Coffee?"


	4. Chapter 4

Even though it was three in the morning Craig bolted out of bed, nearly falling over Solar who had fallen asleep on the floor again, and rapped lightly but urgently on his parents door.  
"what's wrong? Is something on fire?" Mrs Tucker opened the door in confusion.  
Craig's brain was running at a million miles a minuet but he managed to persude his mom to look after Solar because he wasn't sure how his night would turn out.  
Rushing through the cold, dark streets of South Park Craig felt the heaviness that had been weighing down on his chest for the past five years lifting the closer he got to Tweek Bros.  
Craig finally reached the coffee shop he was breathing deeply, all thoughts of what would be waiting for him and he soon found his answer.  
Stood under the street light was Tweak, like an angel sent down just for Craig; his blond hair was shorter than before but thick and cared for, there was a new roundness to his whole body and he radiated calmness.  
Tweak finally looked up, his blue eyes glistening with tears, a glorious smile spreading across his face; Craig couldn't stop the smile too and no words were said as the pair of lovers embraced tightly.  
"you're back." Craig whispered, still not letting Tweak go.  
A chucked rumbled in the blond's chest, "took me long enough." his voice was softer, there was no panic or strain but still Tweak.  
Turns out Tweak did not mean they would be drinking coffee, instead he had a flask of smoothie.  
When the pair finally seperated they walked silently inside Tweek Bros; the shop was dark but with the lights from their phones they sat at a table to drink from the flask.  
Craig couldn't stop smiling, just a little more softly, but before he could say anything Tweak was speaking in a quick tone.  
"I missed you so much! The first year i was there I couldn't sleep and it wasn't becasue of the coffee. I used to stea the staff's cell phones to try and call you but they always caught me, cameras everywhere." Tweak sipped the smoothie, pulling a slight face, "everything took so long cos they didn't want to hurt my body so they were weening me off."  
"but you're back now." Craig stated happily.  
Tweak's face lit up under the low glow of their cell phones, "I am! I'm back, healthy, coffee free and ready for everything."  
"I missed you." Craig laughed, but then a prick of guilt knocked his happiness becasue staring up at him from his phone was Solar.  
Tweak's eyes flickered down to Craig's phone, "oh, he's cute, did your mom have a baby while I was away?"  
Panic shot through Craig's veins, he tightened his grip on the blond's hand, "no." his throat was dry but he hadn't spent the past five years telling his son his daddy would be coming home soon for them to never meet, "he's mine."  
There was silence, Craig almost couldn't bare it.  
"are you with someone else?" Tweak asked slowly, not looking away from the photo.  
"no!" Craig exclaimed, the blond looking at him through his lashes, "after you left I was maddingly sad, I got dragged to a party and this bitch took advantage of me." he explained quickly, "she abandoned him."  
Slowly Tweak picked up Craig's cell, opening it without a pause, and began flicking through all the photos; a small smile gracing his face as he did.  
"he's called Solar." Craig told him.  
Suddenly a photo of Solar staring longingly at a picture of Tweak appeared on screen and the black haired man could help but laugh awkwardly.  
"don't freak out, but he thinks you're daddy." Craig expected an exclaimation or a panic of some sort but Tweak slowly looked up from the phone.  
"you were that sure I would come back well enough for that?" Tweak asked.  
Craig smiled, "not matter what, you were always going to be daddy." he told the blond sincerarly.  
"what about the mother? Who was she?" Tweak questioned, even with his cheeks glowing pink with a non expressed happiness.  
"a slut from Raisins. She long gone. She didn't want him." Craig explained quickly; he hated talking about Mercedes, she was an unimportant part of his past.  
Tweak was quiet for a few moments more before picking up Craig's cell again and smiling softly, "I can't wait to meet him. I'll be here all tomorrow."  
Craig frown, "you're working here? In a coffee shop?"   
"Sounds so stupid I know, an ex-addict surrounded by their old poison but I'm stronger now and I certainly won't be tasting any of it." Tweak laughed.  
Squeezing Tweak's hand again Craig noticed a bracelet wrapped tightly around the once thin wrist; Till The Night it read; their parting words.  
"it kept me strong every night i missed you." Tweak whispered.  
Clearing his throat so he wouldn't tell his loved one that after he left all Craig did was mope and annoy everyone.  
"I can't wait for you guys to meet, he'll be very excited when i tell him." Craig gushed, "we'll be here right after school."  
Tweak laughed, "I can't believe you're a dad, it's so refreshing. And we can make some sort of a family now."  
Without a beat Craig kissed Tweak, a longing, loving kiss, one he missed giving his boyfriend for five years but it was certainly one thing he would make up for.


	5. Chapter 5

It was still dark when Craig returned home, feeling lighter than he'd ever felt, on the living room sofa was his mother flat out asleep, snoring lightly and Solar sat on the floor, hugging a star teddy and staring mindlessly at the television.  
"dad." Solar stood for his dad to pick him up, "you went out."  
Craig sat back on the floor, in the nest of blankets Solar had made for himself, and pulled out his cell phone; before parting ways the pair had taken a new photo, looking like no time had passed.  
"daddy. Is daddy back now?" Solar began to bounce happily, grabbing the phone and holding so close to his face.  
"yes, we're going to see him today after school, so you've got to be really good." Craig told his son.  
Solar nodded vigioursly, "I promise dad, I'll be the best I've ever been." Still griping the phone he fell into a small sleep.  
From the moment he woke back up all Solar could talk about was that his daddy had finally come back and all the exciting things they were going to do together.  
Craig listened happily, barely able to contain his own excitment and wished the day would pass quickly.  
"Hey Tucker!" Stan came jogging across the road, all his tools rattling loudly around his waist, "you'll never guess who i saw this morning."  
An instant smile crossed Craig's face, "Tweak." he said softly.  
"daddy's back!" Solar added loudly.  
Stan looked surprised, "oh, you've already seen him?"  
"of course i have." Craig deapanned, "you think my soul mate would be back home and I wouldn't know."  
The handiman laughed lightly, "true, it'd be the same if Kyle came back." Stan suddenly pursed his lips like he'd said too much.  
Craig raised an eyebrow, Solar matching his father's face, "Wendy know you feel like that?"  
Wendy and Stan had a long distance relationship since she was still at college but as the weeks wore on the handiman seemed to be loosing more and more interest in making time to speak to his girlfriend but always made time to speak to Kyle.  
"Wendy knows a lot of things." Stan cleared his throat loudly, "mainly knowing Kyle will be training as a lawyer for at least four more years."  
"your relationship is weird." Solar suddenly said, "and that coming from me who never met their daddy."  
Stan frowned lightly, "go to school." he said without malic.  
The handiman was met by twin middle fingers before they all parted ways.  
"are Stan and Kyle like you and daddy?" Solar asked.  
"they wish." Craig sighed, "be good at school."  
Solar stood at the school entrance, an excited look taking over his little face, "and then we'll go see daddy? Don't go see him without me." he demanded very seriously.  
Craig promised his son he wouldn't venture out of work early to hang out with Tweak, which was difficult and made Craig's day even harder to conentrate on; he was so distracted a bad tempered parrot nipped his ear so hard it bled.  
Rushing like he'd never rushed before Craig went to collect Solar the moment it turned half two only to find his five year old confronting some of his classmates with a face of fury.  
"you're just jealous cos I have two proper parents." Solar snapped.  
"two dad's aren't proper parents." a little boy with a brown bowl haircut sneered, "my mummy says gays go to hell."  
Without missing a beat Solar punched the other boy square in the nose, blood splattering onto the snow, "only truely evil people go to hell and that'll be you if you talk about my dad's again!" Solar snarled.  
Craig rushed forward to scoop up his son before he attacked the other kid again or he made a retaliation; the boy's mother did the same thing.  
"you boy just punched my son." She yelled, shoving a hanky to her son's face.  
All Craig could do was shrug; truthfully he would have done the same thing in Solar's situation, he was sure he had actually punched other people for questioning the nature of his relationship.  
"little shit had it coming." Craig said.  
Walking away from the gob-smacked mother Craig held his son tightly; Solar laid his head on his father's shoulder, all fury draining from him instantly.  
"I'm sorry I punched him." Solar whispered softly.  
"don't be." Craig instantly said, "I would have done the same thing."  
Solar snuggled deeper into his dad's neck, "will daddy be angry with me?"  
"no, he's punched many people for pretty much the same reason." Craig chuckled.  
With Tweek Bro's in sight both Tucker's perked up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the random day off without update, my brain couldn't think.   
> I have also realised that I'm spelling Tweek's name wrong but have gotten into the habit of spelling it Tweak for this fic, sorry if it bothers anyone

Inside the coffee shop was the thick, familiar smell of fresh coffee brewing, the customers ranged from business people trying to restart their brains to hipsters taking photos of their lavishly decorated cups.  
Behind the counter was Tweak in a bright red apron, his fingers already stained with coffee beans and his face immediately lit up at the sight of Craig and Solar.  
"hey guys!" Tweak greeted happily, coming round from behind the counter; he observed Solar with a slight nervous smile.  
Craig placed his son on the floor, the five year old had not taken his eyes from Tweak but had yet to say a word, "hey babe." Craig said and kissed the blond on the cheek, "good day?"  
"it just got better." Tweak said.  
At that moment Solar reached out to touch Tweak's leg, a scared look on his young face, as if afraid that his daddy wasn't really there, like he'd spent too long staring and wishing on his photos so hard a fake version had appeared.  
Tweak bent down to the young Tucker's level, taking the small pale hand in his own, "hello Solar, I'm looking forward to being your daddy."  
Without missing a beat Solar flung himself at Tweak, sending them both tumbling to the floor, the blond laughed lightly, relieved to be liked, and Solar refused to let go.  
After a few moments Craig helped his two precious people back to their feet, Solar clinging to his daddy like a baby monkey; luckily the shop wasn't busy so Tweak didn't have to rush off to work.  
"we should get a house together." Tweak said off-hand as he perched Solar on the counter.  
"I wish we could but I only work part-time." Craig told him.  
Tweak laughed softly, longingly taking in Solar's face, now becoming so similar to his dad's, "well isn't it lucky that my parents have offered to buy me a place since I came home clean." he grinned.  
"do you forget to do your laundry too?" Solar whispered.  
Craig observed them with a warm, soothing feeling settling in his stomach; all the years of stress, worry and missing Tweak was quickly melting away as he watched his soulmate and son share a laugh.  
Soon after the coffee shop began to fill up with people finishing work and needing something between finishing a shift and getting drunk off their asses.  
It took some persuasion to pry Solar from Tweak, he was a very stubbon and strong five year old, so the blond could get back to work.  
"I'll be round after the shop closes." Tweak promised handing over a chocolate muffin to a pouting Solar.  
Craig smiled, glad there was no awkwardness with having Tweak back after so many years and a lifestyle overhaul for the pair of them.  
"see you then." Craig whispered and stole a quick kiss.  
Instead of just going home where Craig expected a million and five questions from all members of his family, he took Solar to the park for a while.  
"are we going to live with daddy?" Solar asked on the way to the park.  
An unexpected feeling of excitment jumped through Craig and he couldn't stop a small smile, "hopefully, would you like that?" As much as he loved Tweak, if his son wasn't happy he'd put his entire life on hold for him.  
"I wanna live with daddy and you and have a room filled with stars and race cars and daddy can make you really good coffee every morning and you won't be sad any more." Solar rambled.  
Craig felt a twinge of guilt; he'd tried so hard not to show how much he'd missed Tweak or let if effect how he was as a parent but there were appeant cracks in his armour.  
"with you two by my side I'll never be sad again." Craig promised.  
"ugh, I think I heard that in a movie once." came a sudden voice.  
Spinning Craig was confronted with Kenny, whom he had last saw running away from South Park in the early hours of the morning with nothing but a backpack and all the money he'd managed to steal from his brother.  
The blond looked better than any time Craig could remember, he'd filled out and was wearing an expensive leather jacket.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> slight mention of domestic abuse- absolutely nothing describe but such as the rape it's mentioned of am just giving people the heads up.

"McCormick. Last time i spoke to you, you were covered in glitter." Craig said.  
Kenny laughed, showing white, straight teeth, "yeah, those days are behind me now." there was a hint of sadness to his voice.  
Solar shot off to play in the park while the adults talked; the five year old had never met Kenny and Craig certainly didn't need his son to hear about that dreaded party at any point.  
"where you been dude? You kinda disappeared." Craig mentioned.  
The blond shrugged, "I had to get out. I work in Hollywood now." he added in a much chipper tone.  
"you're shitting me? Doing what? Not walking those streets are you?" Craig teased.  
"no. I'm a stuntman, being invinsible has finally come in hand." the blond told him and showed his offical ID for Hollywood lots.  
Craig fought to roll his eyes; all through their childhood Kenny had insisted that he was invinisble but Craig had never really beleived it.  
"so what are you doing back then?" the black haired man asked.  
Suddenly Kenny looked very shy and nervous, his whole body rigid and pale faced, "do you know how many of us stayed in South Park?" he questioned.  
"just me and fatass. Stan came back." Craig told him.  
"Butters stayed too." Kenny was staring out into the distance, "he was living with Cartman."  
"what's happened?" Craig dared to ask; he hadn't even seen Butters since that party, nobody had.  
Kenny clenched his hands, both red raw with welts and cuts, "it wasn't so much living as surviving. You think the Stotch's were bad, fatass too real pleasure in it all." he told Craig through clenched teeth.  
"what have you done?" Craig demanded.  
Craig didn't like Cartman, he hated the offhand comments the fatass made about Craig being a young father, but he was uneasy with the thought that Kenny would be dropping his life; not matter the good cause.  
"nothing to Cartman." Kenny sighed, "these are from breaking into the apartmant to resuce Butters." he gestured to his damaged hands, "I took him back to my house to hid him till tonight."  
Craig frowned, "why are you telling me?" he asked slowly.  
"I dunno, wanted to see how you were doing but also you'd tell me if I'd done a dumb thing." Kenny sighed.  
"oh, that's really fucking stupid." Craig laughed, "but I'm amazed you didn't take Butters with you in the first place."  
"I tried." huffed the blond, some of the tension going from his shoulders, "he promised to meet in in Hollywood but I guess he got nab by Cartman not soon after I left."  
"look McCormick, I suggest you leave right now, fatass has the whole of The Peppermint Hippo behind him. Regeneration or not, they're gunna fucking kill you." Craig told him seriously, "and then kill Butters." he added quickly.  
Suddenly rigided again Kenny looked Craig dead in the eyes, "I'm glad Tweak came back to you. Have a good life Tucker."  
And just as quickly as he had appeared Kenny disappeared again; later that day, as Craig stared out the living room window waiting for Tweak to come round he saw two blond figures making their way quickly towards the bus stop.  
Kenny was gripping the shocking thin Butters' hand as they rushed down the road, but the taller blond was being gentle and the stupid teenage love was radiating from the obviously sick Butters.  
Craig smiled as they got out of town and took slight pleasure in the fact Cartman was going to be pissed off; he vaugly wondered in Kenny had gone to the police but quickly remembered how useless South Park police were.  
At long last Tweak appeared at the house, carrying a couple of cups and having forgotten to change out of his red apron; Craig had to fight to answer the door.  
"some things never change." Craigh said as he ushered the blond into the house and pecked his cheek.  
Tweak laughed, "yeah, I always used to bring you the new blend of coffee." he stooped to kiss Solar on the forehead.  
"no, I meant you forgetting to change out of your uniform." Craig casually mentioned.  
Suddenly Tweak gave a non-sensical outburst like he used to, before rehab, and seemed to surprise himself, "it's a stress reflex!" he exclaimed.  
"I know babe." Craig soothed and gave Tweak another kiss before allowing his family to speak to the blond.


	8. Chapter 8

Luckily Craig had managed to brief his family on what was acceptable to say to the blond; there would be no mention of rehab or Tweak's previous habits, there would also be no invasion of their relationship, they'd done enough of that when the boys had been ten.  
"it's wonderful to have you back Tweak." Mrs Tucker gushed.  
Tweak smiled, trying to unlatch Solar from his leg, "it's really good to be back, it's comforting to be back on familiar ground."  
The Tucker family nodded, biting their tongues from saying anything that would upset their son; unfortunately Mr Tucker ruined it with the smiliest face possible, "how about a cup o' joe Tweak? Just like all times."   
Craig physically facepalmed, he should have known better than to trust his family would use their brains.  
"daddy can't have coffee Granddad." Solar piped up, "it'll make him poorly."  
Tweak smiled down affectionatly at the five year old, patting his head and stopped trying to remove Solar from his leg.  
"oh, we have decaf coffee." Mrs Tucker pitched in.  
"no coffee at all." Craig said through gritted teeth, placing himself between his family and Tweak.  
Ruby rolled her eyes so hard Craig could almost hear them, "alright hero, we get the message, lets eat." she said calmly.  
All through dinner, take-away from City Wok, the Tucker's seemed to be holding their tongues from asking stupid questions but managed to hold a pleasant convocation.  
As they tidied away the plates there was a knock at the door, Solar rushed to the window to see who it was and he turned back to them with a scowl, "it's fatass."  
Craig knew immediately why Cartman was at his door; South Park wasn't big place, someone was bound to see his talking to Kenny that day.  
Yanking open the door Craig was confrunted with a red faced Cartman, still in his Peppermint Hippo sercurity uniform.  
"where is he, you asshole?" Cartman growled.  
Even though there was five Tuckers and Tweak verses Cartman he showed no fear; not yet anyway.  
"I don't know what you're going on about." Craig said casually, stalling the fight.  
Cartman grabbed the front of Craig's shirt, yanking him close, his fat face full of fury, "some of the bitches saw you talking to that poor piece of shit today and the next thing his ex-boytoy disappeared. I ain't fucking stupid."  
"could have fooled me." Solar piped up from behind Tweak.  
"shut it you little brat." Cartman snapped at the five year old.  
Before Craig could move to shake fatass off there was firm elbow placed hard in Cartman's face; Tweak may have filled out but he still had sharp elbows.  
"don't talk to my son like that." Tweak said in a eerily calm voice.  
Fatass sat dumbly on the floor, holding his gushing nose, "where is Butters?" he ground out.  
Craig and Solar gave matching middle fingers, both Tucker parents and Ruby joining in from where they were watching in the living room, "far away from you, lucky kid." Craig said before slamming the door.  
With Cartman waddling off down the driveway, going home to cry to his mama, Craig kissed his blond lovingly on the cheek, "you were great honey." he said proudly.  
"well, I can't let him touch my Craig or speak to my son like that." Tweak primmed but looked happy.  
Mr Tucker clapped both of them hard on the back, "what a team!" he cheered, "let's have a drink!"  
Breaking out the fancy whiskey the three of them sat on the couch, luckily Mr Tucker was still talking to his wife so Craig and Tweak could talk.  
"so, where is this house?" Craig asked, not drinking the whiskey, bad memories rising.  
Tweak gave a little chuckle, "it's on this street actually, where Big Gay Al used to live."  
The previous year Big Gay Al had moved Vagas with Mr Slave to forfil his dream of being a Vagas showgirl and from the virtual postcards he sends it all seems to be going quite well; since then his house had stood empty.  
"we'll have to disinfect everything." Craig joked.  
Solar sneakily smelt the sharp whiskey in his dad's glass before planting himself firmly between his parents, "when can we move in together?" he asked.  
Being a quiet kid meant Solar heard most things going on around him even if nothing was said in his direction.  
"move?" Mrs Tucker asked, all attention back on Craig and Tweak.  
Craig took Tweak's hand, "I thought it was time to move out, Tweak's parents offered him a house."  
"we can be a family there." Solar added.  
Mrs Tucker nodded sadly, "it'll be strange not having you here."   
"it's not far from here, you won't notice them missing." Tweak said happily, trying to lightnen the sudden mood.  
Ruby scoffed lightly, "I'll definately notice him missing, for all good reasons." she smiled and flipped off her brother.  
"when will you be going son?" Mr Tucker asked, trying to hide his own tears.  
Craig couldn't help but roll his eyes, "trying to push me out of the hosue already, glad i never mentioned moving before, you'd have packed my bags before the end of the day." he joked.  
"don't be like that Craig, we're just excited for you." Mrs Tucker said.  
Clinking down his glass Craig sighed deeply, "kidding." he effectionatly flipped off his parents before pulling Tweak to his feet.  
The two of them took Solar up to bed, tucking him into his own solar system bed covers, even though Craig knew his son would end up asleep on his floor as always.  
"you sure you wanna move in with me?" Tweak whispered as they left the room.  
"I do." Solar called from the darkness.  
With a small laugh Craig pulled Tweak into a loving kiss, there in the dark hallway, with the rest of the Tucker family downstairs, everything about life was finally falling into place.  
"of course I wanna live with you." Craig whispered, "nothing would be better."  
Tweak gleefully laughed, gripping Craig's arms tightly, "I'm so happy, but we've got so much to do..." suddenly the blond trailed off and Craig immediately recongised the overthinking panic.  
"hey, we're going to do it together, everything will be shared, the moving, cleaning and decorating." Craig said firmly.  
Tweak gave a frustrated sigh, "I'm sorry I keep freaking out, it's like I'm moving backwards." he hissed mostly to himself.  
"look at me Tweak." Craig said firmly, the smooth brown eyes looking up sadly at him, "there is no steps backwards now, only forwards and forwards together."  
Tweak hugged his beloved so hard Craig couldn't breath for a few moments, "love you Craig, you're the best." he whispered happily.


	9. Chapter 9

Craig managed to convince Tweak to stay the night, they just about managed to fit in the same bed; it was comforting to have the blond close again but Craig didn't sleep very well.  
During the night Solar snuck into the room to sleep on the floor and for most of the night Craig lay awake enjoying the blond's calm sleeping face; soothing sleeping moments used to be so few and far between for Tweak that the black haired man was finally glad he'd gone away.  
When morning finally came, Craig had had a few hours sleep, the three of them managed to escape before any of the other Tuckers had gotten out of bed.  
Walking through South Park both holding hands with Solar the couple got a few strange looks from people doing the walk of shame but they were too happy to care.  
"you wanna go look at the house tonight?" Tweak asked after they'd dropped Solar off.  
"sounds good." Craig smiled, "I'll bring the bleach and rubber gloves."  
Tweak smacked his boyfriend playfully, "stop with that. Have a good day." he kissed Craig as they reached the pet shop.  
Suddenly shouting broke through the quiet morning.  
"I can't believe I came all the way back only to find you hanging out with him!" Wendy was storming down the road, Stan still in his dressing gown behind her.  
"I don't see the problem." Stan grit out.  
"morning guys!" Tweak shouted, trying to stop the public arugment but he was ignored.  
"and here i thought ThankGivings was about being thankful." Kyle was standing beside Tweak like a ghost out of nowhere.  
Kyle's red curls were short and his face a little tired, he already seemed sick of Stan and Wendy arguing.  
"why is he always there?" Wendy shouted, glaring at Kyle over her shoulder.  
Stan rolled his eyes, "cos he's my friend."  
Without missing a beat Wendy slapped the handiman hard across the face, "and I was meant to be your girlfriend."  
"it's like a weird convebelt of old friends." Craig whispered as Wendy stormed off towards her own house.  
Craig was beginning to think it was a bit strange that after five years suddenly all his old classmates were coming back to South Park, some not for a long time.  
With a small sigh Kyle adjusted his jacket and approched Stan, "come on man, let's get a drink." he suggested.  
Tweak and Craig kissed goodbye again before parting ways so the blond could open the coffee shop for the two earlybirds.  
The petshop was very quiet, Craig mostly had to clean out the animals until he got a call from the school.  
"Mr Tucker, um, Solar has been caught fighting, which is bad m'kay?" Mr Mackey drawled, "he, er, said the other child started it but he's, um, unconsious."  
Craig felt a little bubble of anger welling in his stomach, "and what was the reason?" he asked trying to calm his breathing.  
"if you could come down that's be great." Mr Mackey said.  
Rolling his eyes even though Craig knew his old teacher couldn't see, "fine." leaving work wasn't a problem, his boss liked quiet days with very little staff, he liked to talk to the fish without being judged.  
Reaching the councilors door Craig heard talking, "so you understand what he did was bad, m'kay." Mr Mackey was saying again.  
During his youth Craig had heard that sentance many times and after a while it lost all it's meaning, so being rude, fighting and naughty had no conciquences.  
"that sounds full of shit." Tweak's voice suddenly came through the door.  
Opening the door Craig saw a bruise covered Solar sulking low down in one of the uncomfortable chairs and Tweak still wearing his apron with a face of fury.  
"you're saying that him defending himself is bad." Tweak snapped.  
Mr Mackey looked suddenly panicked, "no, but he did knock out the other boy." he mentioned.  
"so what happened? Solar?" Craig addressed his son because he knew his son wouldn't lie or mince his words.  
Solar had a black eye and his nose had been bleeding, "he as having a go at you and daddy again but when I tried to walk away he hit me so I hit him back. I ain't sorry."   
"there you are, write that in you notebook and let my son go back to lessons." Craig deapanned.  
Without waiting for a reply Craig too Solar's hand and left the office, Tweak close behind, "I love how you don't give a shit." the blond grinned.  
Instead of taking Solar back to class Craig took him to the coffee shop, phoning his boss about not being able to come back into work, and allowed his son to play on his phone for a while.  
"Mackey call you?" Craig asked leaning on the counter as Tweak got back to work.  
The blond blushed, "yeah, seems like Solar demanded it."  
Craig laughed, "what happened with Marsh and Kyle?" he asked sipping the super sweet hot chocolate.  
"they ended up kissing." Tweak told him simply and Craig didn't even bother to question any more about it; he'd seen it a million miles away.  
Watching Tweak work was fasinating, he was very skilled in making the fancy foam pictures, being able to recite off all the hundreds of types of coffee avaliable and actually enjoying himself; before the blond constantly seemed pained to make any kind of coffee, like any second he's throw the cup at a wall.  
"we're off mom!" Tweak called to the back room.  
They'd decided to go to Big Gay Al's house to see if anything actually needed doing other than repainting and the whole way there Solar chatted about how exciting it was going to be to live together.  
Solar vaugly mentioned the fight but he struggled to describe the situation without using some colourful language.  
Inside the pink house it was completely bare but clean, the one thing Craig could remember from the couple of times he's been inside Big Gay Al's house he remembered it being warm and now that it had stood empty there was a coldness.  
"think we can fit both wide screen and games console here?" Tweak asked.  
In his mind eye Craig could see some furniture in the room, he began to smile that his family home was literally unfolding before his eyes.  
"dad, why are there rings in the roof?" Solar called from one of the bedrooms.  
Craig snorted a laugh and went to retrieve his son.


End file.
